Ladle swing tower for a continuous casting installation

ABSTRACT

A ladle swing tower for a continuous casting installation or plant equipped with pivotal carrier arms for the transport of casting or pouring vessels to and from a casting position. There is provided an inner rotatable structure of the ladle swing tower possessing at its lower end a bearing block located at the plane of the floor of the plant. There is also provided an outer stationary structure possessing a guide track at the level of the casting platform for rollers arranged at the inner rotatable structure.

United States Patent 1191 Kishi et al.

1111 3,820,769 1451 June 28, 1974 LADLE SWING TOWER FOR A CONTINUOUS CASTING INSTALLATION 75] Inventors: Shigeichi Kishi; Masao Kato, both of Niihama, Japan [73] Assignee: Concast AG, Zurich, Switzerland [22] Filed: Sept. 25, 1972 [21] Appl. No: 292,077

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 28, 1971 Japan 46-87838IU] [52] US. Cl 266/38, 164/281, 164/337,

[51] Int. Cl. B22d 11/10, F27d 3/14 [58] Field of Search 164/4, 281, 337; 222/166, 1 222/1685; 266/13, 38

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1959 Deakins et al. 164/337 X 9/1964 McFeaters et al. 266/13 3,344,847 10/1967 Beemer 164/281 3,693,960 9/1972 Golde et al. 222/166 X 3,717,331 2/1973 Simons 164/281 X OTHER PUBLICATIONS SKF, TSP No. 146, Bearings For Turntable Crane-- Posts, April 1941.

Primaly Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant Eraminer--Neil Abrams Attorney, Agent, or FirmWerner W. Kleeman [57] ABSTRACT A ladle swing tower for a continuous casting installation or plant equipped with pivotal carrier arms for the transport of casting or pouring vessels to and from a casting position. There is providedan inner rotatable structure of the ladle swing tower possessing at its lower end a bearing block located at the plane of the floor of the plant. There is also provided an outer stationary structure possessing a guide track at the level of the casting platform for rollers arranged at the inner rotatable structure.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures iATENTEDwnzs I974 SHEET 1 OF. 3

LADLE SWING TOWER FOR A CONTINUOUS CASTING INSTALLATION BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of ladle swing or slewing tower for a continuous casting installation with pivotable carrier arms for transporting pouring or casting vessels, e.g., ladles to and from a casting position.

Ladle swing towers for continuous casting plants are known to the art which are arranged at the level of the casting platform. Owing to the considerable weight of the casting ladles needed in larger capacity installations as well as the tilting moment prevailing during operation the bearings must possess considerable dimension and also large diameter. This requires increased spatial requirements. They also must be designed such that they can withstand large forces acting both in horizontal and vertical direction. Such bearings are however relatively complicated and expensive. The bearings bear upon rather large concretepedestals which extend from the plane of the casting platform to .the floor of the casting plant and additionally must be equipped with traction anchors or tiebolts for the prevailing trac' tion forces. These concrete pedestals require a great deal of space. In the event that-the bearing must be dismantled then the entire portion of the swing tower located above the bearing together with the carrier arms must be raised and brought to one side, requiring timeconsuming work and an additional crane. Owing to the high concrete pedestals which extend up to the level of the casting platform there results an unfavorable relationship of the load moment to the counter or reaction moment, rendering the bearing arrangement more complicated and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Hence, from what has been discussed above it should be apparent that the continuous casting art is still in need of a ladle swing tower which is not associated with the aforementioned. drawbacks and limitations of the prior art proposals. Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved ladle swing tower which effectively and reliably fulfills the existingneed in the art and overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations of the prior art proposals.

Another and more specific object of the present in-.

vention aims at the provision of an improved construction of ladle swing tower which allows for a better-distribution of the forcesand moments which are to be taken up and which can be equipped with simpler bearings, and the dismantling of which can be carried out in a most simple manner.

A further object of this invention relates to an improved ladle swing tower wherein the ladle swing tower rollers arranged at the inner structure. Such type arrangement affords a large lever arm for the counter or reactive moment, enabling the bearing to be of simpler construction.

Advantageously the ladles can be mounted in beams or carriers arranged at the carrier arms and these beams are connected with weight measuring devices. This allows for a continuous control of the ladle weight and allows for the determination of the quantity of metal already cast at the installation. According to a further aspect of the invention the beams are designed to be elevationally displaceable by means of conventional lifting devices or jacks in order to be able to raise or lower the casting or pouring vessels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS is 'a sectional view, taken substantially along the line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the foot step bearing block of the swing tower; and

FIG. 5 illustrates the arrangement of the lifting device for the ladles.

Describing now the drawings, it. is to be understood that reference numeral 1 designates as a portion of the ladle swing tower a stationary steel tower structure which extends upwardly from the floor plane 15 of the casting plant or foundry. This tower structure 1 is formed of tubes or pipes and steel plates, as generally indicated at reference character la, and secured by bolts or the like to the foundation. At the upper end of the tower structure 1 there is located a circular-shaped guide track 2 at the region of the height or level of the casting platform 14, which track 2 consists of a rail 2a for instance. As best seen by referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 this track 2 serves for guiding and supporting a plurality of rollers 6. These rolers 6 are arranged at an inner rotatable structure or center post 3. At the center post 3 there is likewise arranged a rotating mechanism or slewing device 8 consisting of conventional components, such as a motor, gears, transmission means and so forth. A pinion 8a of the transmission engages with a tooth rim or gear ring 7. It would be possible to provide an auxiliary rotating mechanism or slewing device comprising motor and transmission in order to be able to carry out the necessary operations in the case of possible breakdown of the first unit.

It is important that the ring-shaped guide track 2 pos sess sufficient flexural rigidity in order to be able to withstand the forces transmitted by the rollers 6 during loading by merely one ladle. As best seen by referring to FIG. 2 some of the rollers 6 are assembled together as pairs into roller units 6a. They are able to withstand extremely well the forces prevailing during eccentric loading, brought about when loading the swing tower by a filled ladle, and to reduce the risk of deformation of the guide track 2.

The inner rotatable component or center post 3 of the ladle swing tower is mounted at a foot step bearing block 4 at the level of the casting plant or foundry floor 15, as best seen by referring to FIG. 4. Above the foundation this bearing block 4 embodies a roller thrust bearing 4 and a radial roller bearing 4". The roller thrust bearing 4 is designed to withstand the large thrust forces and the roller bearing 4" to withstand radial forces. Owing to the arrangement of the foot step bearing block 4 at the floor 15 of the foundry and the guide track 2 at the level of the casting platform 14 there is provided a large distance as the effective lever arm of the countermoment. To facilitate disassembly or dismantling of the bearing glock 4 there is provided at the structure the surfaces 5 at which engage conventional lifting means in order to somewhat raise and support the center post 3. The bearing block 4 is easily accessible and can be laterally dismantled in a most simple manner. Owing to this mode of mounting and supporting the arrangement there can be dispensed with the concrete pedestal extending from the plane of the plant floor to the height of the casting platform which was conventional with prior art casting installations. In place thereof there is employed a lighter and less expensive steel structure which requires less space.

At the upper end of the rotatable center post 3 there are located the support or carrier arms 9 for receiving the ladles 10. These ladles 10 are seated in carriers or beams 11 which are elevationally displaceable. This is required because the full ladle must be lifted in the event a tundish 16 equipped with an immersion or pouring tube 20 is conveyed in raised position in order to introduce the pouring or immersion tube 20 into the casting mold 17. The elevational adjustability of the beams 11 and the ladles 10 carried thereby can occur at a speed of about 0.6m/min. within an elevational range of about 300 mm., and specifically by the action of known hydraulic or mechanical lifting devices or jacks 12. In the illustrated embodiment, and as best seen by referring to FIG. 5, there are provided motors 21, transmissions 22, and screw spindles 23. Moreover, for each of both lateral ladle beams 11 there is provided a motor. In order to be able to raise and lower the beams 11 arranged at both sides with the same speed both of the motors should be coupled. Weight measuring devices or load cells 13 are provided directly beneath the beams 11, and specifically four weight measuring cells are provided beneath each beam. The weight measuring devices or load cells 13 are electrically coupled with the drive of the lift means and the rotating mechanism or slewing device 8. When the quantity of steel left in the ladle approaches zero then a signal triggered by the weight measuring devices brings about raising of the ladle 10 to a predetermined level and thus initiates the pivotal or slewing movement of the center post or structure 3 by means of the rotating mechanism or slewing device. The elevational ad'- justment of the ladle l0 and the pivotal movement also can be carried out simultaneously. By actuating the rotating mechanism or slewing device 8 the ladles seated at the carrier arms 9 can be respectively alternately brought into casting position over the tundish 16 which again is located above the mold l7 equipped with the subsequent secondary cooling zone 18 as is well known in this particular art, or transported or moved out of such casting position. If necessary, the two carrier or support arms could also be slewed independently of one another.

While there is shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

Accordingly, we claim:

1. A ladle swing tower for a continuous casting plant equipped with a casting platform, comprising pivotal carrier arms for transporting pouring vessels to and from a casting position, an inner rotatable structure having a lower end and provided for the ladle swing tower, rollers provided for said inner rotatable structure, said inner rotatable structure of the ladle swing tower being provided at its lower end with a bearing block located at approximately the plane of the floor of the casting plant, an outer stationary tower structure cooperating with said inner rotatable structure, a guide track provided for said outer stationary tower structure at the level of the casting platform for the rollers of the inner rotatable structure.

2. The ladle swing tower as defined in claim 1, further including beams arranged at the carrier arms for holding the pouring vessels, and weight measuring devices cooperating with said beams.

3. The ladle swing tower as defined in claim 2, further including lifting means arranged at the carrier arms for elevationally displacing the beams.

4. A ladle swing tower for a continuous casting plant equipped with a casting platform, comprising pivotal carrier arms for transporting pouring vessels to and from a casting position, an inner rotatable structure having a lower end and an upper end provided for the ladle swing tower, rollers provided for said inner rotatable structure, said inner rotatable structure of the ladle swing tower being provided at its lower end with a bearing block located at approximately the plane of the floor of the casting plant and extending with its upper end at least up to-the level of the casting platform, an outer stationary tower structure cooperating with said inner rotatable structure, said outer stationary tower structure extending approximately from the level of the plane of the floor of the casting plant to the region of the casting platform, a guide track provided for said outer stationary tower structure at the level of the casting platform for the rollers of the inner rotatable structure, said guide track and bearing block being spaced from one another at a distance substantially corresponding to at least the height of said outer stationary tower structure to thereby provide a large effective lever arm for countermoments. 

1. A ladle swing tower for a continuous casting plant equipped with a casting platform, comprising pivotal carrier arms for transportinG pouring vessels to and from a casting position, an inner rotatable structure having a lower end and provided for the ladle swing tower, rollers provided for said inner rotatable structure, said inner rotatable structure of the ladle swing tower being provided at its lower end with a bearing block located at approximately the plane of the floor of the casting plant, an outer stationary tower structure cooperating with said inner rotatable structure, a guide track provided for said outer stationary tower structure at the level of the casting platform for the rollers of the inner rotatable structure.
 2. The ladle swing tower as defined in claim 1, further including beams arranged at the carrier arms for holding the pouring vessels, and weight measuring devices cooperating with said beams.
 3. The ladle swing tower as defined in claim 2, further including lifting means arranged at the carrier arms for elevationally displacing the beams.
 4. A ladle swing tower for a continuous casting plant equipped with a casting platform, comprising pivotal carrier arms for transporting pouring vessels to and from a casting position, an inner rotatable structure having a lower end and an upper end provided for the ladle swing tower, rollers provided for said inner rotatable structure, said inner rotatable structure of the ladle swing tower being provided at its lower end with a bearing block located at approximately the plane of the floor of the casting plant and extending with its upper end at least up to the level of the casting platform, an outer stationary tower structure cooperating with said inner rotatable structure, said outer stationary tower structure extending approximately from the level of the plane of the floor of the casting plant to the region of the casting platform, a guide track provided for said outer stationary tower structure at the level of the casting platform for the rollers of the inner rotatable structure, said guide track and bearing block being spaced from one another at a distance substantially corresponding to at least the height of said outer stationary tower structure to thereby provide a large effective lever arm for countermoments. 